Taking Your Gourmet Cooking to the Next Level with Ghee!

We are happy to welcome Lee’s Ghee to the Avid Gourmet family!

If you wonder why the “Lee’s Ghee” sounds familiar, Lee was on Dragon’s Den in early November and pleased the dragon’s into an investment into her company. Congrats Lee!! See her story:

Taking Your Gourmet Cooking to the Next Level with Ghee!

Let’s take meal preparation to the next level! Move over margarine, butter, coconut oil or olive oil! You need some room on the counter for Ghee!

What is Ghee? What are the benefits to Ghee? How can I use Ghee? Let’s explore!

What is Ghee?

Ghee, very similar to clarified butter, originates from India and is often used in Indian and Middle Eastern dishes. Ghee is an alternative to cooking oils or butter, with a more fragrant smell and a rich nutty taste.

You might be asking what is clarified butter? Well, clarified butter is a process of taking unsalted butter and melting it until is forms 3 distinct layers – the top layer of water that evaporates as the butter cooks, the milk solids form the bottom layer leaving the pure butterfats as the middle layer. The pure butterfats are the clarified butter.

Ghee process allows the butter to cook just a little bit longer or until the milk fats are brown in colour — this is what gives it the great nutty like taste. When the clarifying process is completed, the butter fats will remain solid until you cook with it. It is possible to make Ghee on your own too!

Ghee can be plain for everyday use but you can also purchase ghee that is infused with turmeric, middle eastern spices, vanilla and even maple to add a little kick to your dishes.

What are the benefits to Ghee?

Now you might be thinking if you followed the process, it’s all fats. And you are correct. But fats in moderation are required to sustain a healthy body and it is important if you using Ghee as part of a weight loss regimen.

Anywhere between 20-30% of our daily calories should come from fats. Healthy fats help absorb healthy nutrients, preserve cell membrane and even with your immune system.

The Indian culture has not only been cooking with ghee for centuries, they have also been using holistically for its many health benefits.

Aids in reducing inflammation.

Provides antioxidants such as vitamins A and E and carotenoids which boost your immune system as well as helps with cell production and eyesight.

If you’re lactose intolerant, this is great for you — because of the clarifying process, the lactose and casein is removed.

Aids in digestion but minimizing stomach acids, repairs the stomach lining and is also equipped with digestive enzymes that will help food digest properly.

Adds flavour to foods

Helps heal skin

Ghee provides vitamin K2 which is what transports calcium to your bones.

How can I use Ghee?

Because Ghee will remain in a solid state with minimal moisture required, it can be kept unrefrigerated for long periods of time and has a longer lifespan than most margarines or butter. But you can put it in the fridge to extend it’s life even further!

Ghee can easily be used as a substitute for margarine, butter, coconut oil, olive oils etc. So, you can essentially use Ghee anywhere you were using these before.

Change the way you cook with just one product – make it your primary product for sautéing, swap it for butter in baked goods, toss veggies with ghee and a little sea salt, use it any recipe that calls for cooking oil, it can replace coconut or palm oil when baking or for roasting veggies, you can melt ghee and drizzle it on like olive oil before cooking. If you purchase flavour Ghee, it will add a little more kick to your dish too!

One advantage to cooking with Ghee is that because it doesn’t have the milk solids, you can cook at higher temperatures, up to 250 degrees Celsius, without burning or oxidizing. One thing to keep in mind though, is you don’t need a lot! You can probably use half of any recommended amount of butter or oil since Ghee is more concentrated!

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Avid Gourmet is a leading Canadian distributor of high quality, specialty, and gourmet food and beverages. Serving Southern Ontario and Canada we strive for a healthier tomorrow by bringing good food to life today.